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[Marty Chinn]

It doesn't really matter who the first line of your article is about when the entire rest of your article is about a completely different group of people.

Exactly. It's like saying people in the US make too much money and then clarifying in a second article that you meant the top 1%. People is general and all inclusive. The same goes for the usage of developers. You can't keep saying developers but then only mean a specific sub group of developers and not cause confusion or even anger among the people you claim you didn't target but kept talking about.

(By you, I mean not you, but Xander over there)

 

[Of All Trades]

Haz xander shown anything to prove that he is the actual author of the article? Because if I wanted to sink the author's career I would do exactly what he's doing in the hope that an internet detective would compile what he's writing and forward it to future employers.

 

[Xander756]

Yes, you're ignoring the valid criticism. Your thesis talks about a developer with a $70,000 sports car. Then you go on to compare the $80,000 average salary of a game dev to other, completely unrelated jobs, and ask why game devs get paid so much. If you're ONLY talking about the high-end workers, don't fucking bring in the average game devs and act like it's supporting your argument.

A better article would be discussing the prominence of high-end developers and whether or not their salaries are actually detrimental to the industry, but that would probably require too much work and not get nearly enough facebook likes.

Average salary =/= average game dev. That would be more accurately represented by median salary. Please do not blame me that you don't understand the difference between average and median. If you believe average salary means that's what an average developer earns, I suggest you google the terms mean and median.

 

[p2535748]

This statement makes no sense. If I was ignoring criticism, would I be here explaining things or doing interviews and talking to people on Twitter? I am simply pointing out that he majority of people liked the article in order to quell the belief that this was a problem with the clarity of my writing. It wasn't. It's a problem with the reading comprehension of people who believe that an article that talks about someone driving a $70,000 sports car in the very first line was somehow about people making $30,000 a year.

Here's a direct quote from your article:

Those who received financial benefits made an average of $17,689 above and beyond their salary (source). In other words, the average yearly earnings of a video game developer is about six figures.

Why are developers making so much money? Their job isn't life threatening like a police officer's is and it's not important to the future of the nation like a teacher's job is. It might be tedious or even grueling at times and require long hours and lots of commitment, but working in the video game industry is generally fun. People should be working in the gaming industry because they want to create awesome games. Not because they want to become rich. When did the gaming industry become so corporate?

You're clearly complaining about a developer earning $100K a year. In fact, the real implication here is that you don't think developers should earn more than teachers.

You've changed your argument in this thread to only discuss people like Cliffy (who are few and far between, and I suspect skew the price of games a lot less than you think), but the implication of your article is clear: $100K is too much to pay a developer.

 

[AndyD]

Are you actually trying to argue that social network "Likes" are an indication of quality? I will bet you that half the people who hit the like button didn't even watch the video but thought the premise was funny so voted based on that.

This. He/she thinks that because the article got likes that it was read and understood by the readers. The point is you can write sensationalist drivel and people will flock to it, but that does not make it good writing, or even true.

I...wow.

Same here. The author is off the rails at this point.

 

[meijiko]

Average salary =/= average game dev. That would be more accurately represented by median salary. Please do not blame me that you don't understand the difference between average and median. If you believe average salary means that's what an average developer earns, I suggest you google the terms mean and median.

I... I just can't anymore.

You're not even reading what I'm saying. I'm saying that paragraph had nothing to do with your thesis.

 

[Hesemonni]

Everyone who tries regrets it because the quality is an unshippable mess..

USA fuck yeah!

*hawkstarspangledbannershotgun.jpg*

 

[King_Moc]

This statement makes no sense. If I was ignoring criticism, would I be here explaining things or doing interviews and talking to people on Twitter? I am simply pointing out that he majority of people liked the article in order to quell the belief that this was a problem with the clarity of my writing. It wasn't. It's a problem with the reading comprehension of people who believe that an article that talks about someone driving a $70,000 sports car in the very first line was somehow about people making $30,000 a year.

the average salary for U.S. developers in 2011 was $81,192 a year. It's probably gone up since then due to inflation. Compare that to the current average salary of a police officer which is $50,745 a year (www.salary.com) or a teacher which can be as low as $39,850 a year depending on the state (www.teacherportal.com). Being a game developer is apparently an even better paying job than working at the CIA which according to www.simplyhired.com comes with an average salary of $70,000 a year.

If developers weren't making as much, perhaps games wouldn't need to sell as many copies to be successful either. Keep in mind that many game studios employ literally thousands of people. If the average salary is $81,000, then a studio with 2,000 employees is paying out roughly $162 million in salaries alone. And that's not even including any of the bonuses of benefits which if the average is $17,000 yearly would be another $34 million. No wonder games are so expensive to make! What if these numbers were cut in half? This would only benefit gamers. Maybe games could go back to being $50 each. Maybe DLC and in-game items would be free to download. Are we to believe there isn't an equally qualified person out there willing to do this guy's job for less pay?

What the hell is up with you?

 

[diffusionx]

Here's a direct quote from your article:

I can spot two big problems with that quote (can't read the full article):

1. Financial benefits "above and beyond" their salary = $18,000 is not at all out of line to other professions earning abut the same salary. If you're making that sort of income, you're probably getting about that in other benefits. Game industry or not.

2. We're not paid based on our "worth to society", FFS. Xander756 is implying that people should be taking a haircut to work in the game industry, but that leads me to two obvious problems:

2a. That money would go to the employer, not the employee. Maybe the employer decides to "give it back" to the "gamers", maybe not. Most likely that. That's why generally I prefer labor getting paid over capital. This industry is "corporate" because people spend $70 billion a year on videogames.

2b. What if, you know, the employer really wants a guy and is willing to pay him? Because that is what is happening. There is competition for these skills. Competition drives up salary. In the end, this is a GOOD thing. It entices more people to enter the field. It promotes higher quality work.

 

[AndyD]

I... I just can't anymore.

You're not even reading what I'm saying. I'm saying that paragraph had nothing to do with your thesis.

I think Xander is stuck on this argument with us because he/she perhaps realizes the article was skewed and misleading. Or is that giving Xander the benefit of the doubt?

 

[AndyD]

What the hell is up with you?

Not only that but nowhere in the article (or real life) is there any evidence that a studio employs 2000 developers, or that all employees are developers. So you can't attribute that salary average to every studio employee.

Terrible writing Xander. Misleading at every turn.

 

[Xander756]

Not only that but nowhere in the article (or real life) is there any evidence that a studio employs 2000 developers, or that all employees are developers. So you can't attribute that salary average to every studio employee.

Terrible writing Xander. Misleading at every turn.

Actually the number of employees was also a cited, verifiable reference. This was not a figure that was made up by me.

And what do you mean I can't attribute the salary average to every employee? That's kind of what an average is...

Lets say $100 were paid out among 10 employees. What's the average that was paid out per employee? $10. Does this tell you anything about the distribution of that $100? Not really. It doesn't mean each and every single one made $10. One person might have made $80 and the other 9 combined for the other $20.

This article was about the person making that $80.

 

[Bl4ckSunsh1n3]

As a software engineer/developer/game engine tinkerer, I tend to lean towards this article being very insulting.

First, not everyone can do software development well. That's why it's so expensive. Sure any shithead can go get GameMaker and make a simple 2D platformer but, a developer who is doing something like working on an engine is in a whole different world from that person. The skill set for the big time programmer is one that not very many people can develop. Talent that is in high demand gets paid a lot of money. If you don't like it then, well, tough shit. It's how our economy works.

Let's look at it even beyond game development. Why do developers make more than teachers? A few years back a developer missed a floating point calculation on a shuttle launch for NASA. The result was a blown up shuttle, which resulted in millions of dollars lost. I think you can see why the person in that position makes a lot.

I'll sum up my entire argument against this author's naive and ignorant blog post this way:

When I was in college, my freshman year, a smart ass student asked the teacher why we are required to get 100% correct on our projects while a meteorologist is considered great if they are correct 50% of the time. Her response? When that meteorologist makes a mistake,I have my umbrella on a sunny day. When you make a mistake in the field, it could potentially cost the company you work for millions, if not the life of someone.

 

[Watashiwa]

Hmm so Game Developre Magazine's numbers are useless and wrong.

Major salary aggregation sites such as indeed.com and salary.com have incorrect information.

And now the social media response statistics also prove nothing.

So in other words, anything that shows the article was correct or well received is wrong, regardless of where the statistics came from. That is an interesting conclusion.

First off, I wouldn't know anything about "major salary aggregation sites" because I had no idea those even existed, but without knowing where they got their information I wouldn't trust them at all. Unless they're doing rigorous statistical sampling of controlled populations it's probably not safe either.

Second, social media responses aren't proof of anything except that someone, somewhere with an account clicked a button that pushed up a counter. To say that it means anything else is disingenuous at best, and outright misleading.

Do you know how viral marketing works? This is actually kind of interesting, so pay attention. The idea is to turn your customers/readers/viewers into advertisers by getting them to pass along links or information about whatever you're selling (your article). But how many people do you think actually care how much game developers make? People who play games, who are not the majority of the people plugged into social media. So most people who read your article know very little about games, but they know that when they get an article from a friend they're expected to hit that "Like" button.

On the flipside, a lot of people who know something about game development will take one look at the title and decide it's not worth their time, since they know that most game developers do not make a lot of money, so rather than waste time trying to see where you're coming from, they won't bother to read or reply. The few that do are people who take offence to the generalization they see in the title, and will argue with you.

tl;dr: On the internet, the only indication of quality is what people write back about what you do. What do the majority of the comments that have thought put in to them have to say?

This article was about the person making that $80.

Now THIS could be an interesting article! Celebrity game developers, good or bad? Unfortunately, neither the article that you wrote nor the title of such are about that.

 

[Marty Chinn]

Actually the number of employees was also a cited, verifiable reference. This was not a figure that was made up by me.

And what do you mean I can't attribute the salary average to every employee? That's kind of what an average is...

Lets say $100 were paid out among 10 employees. What's the average that was paid out per employee? $10. Does this tell you anything about the distribution of that $100? Not really. It doesn't mean each and every single one made $10. One person might have made $80 and the other 9 combined for the other $20.

This article was about the person making that $80.

Ok, since you're the math expert. Let's take your 2,000 employee situation and cut the average salary in half like you wanted in your article. Run us the breakdown on the numbers on that and what the likely median salary would be as a result.

 

[Deleted member 126221]

"The problem with the gaming industry is that journalists are sensationalist and dishonest"

And by "journalists" I meant Xander. And fuck you if you didn't understand at first, because I got a ton of "likes" on facebook and you don't have any, so I'm clearly right. Not my fault if you're stupid, I certainly won't teach you basic English rules.

 

[MotherFan]

Actually the number of employees was also a cited, verifiable reference. This was not a figure that was made up by me.

Was it developers? Or employees? Your going to have executives, your going to have HR, your going to have secretaries, etc. All of them are not making similar amounts in salary or bonuses.

Second, with the high turnover rate in the industry, what would you suggest they do to keep talent? Paying them less while making them work the same would make even more people leave.

 

[witchedwiz]

Why isn't he comparing game developers to other computer programming jobs?

Because i can't afford a 70k euro car with my analyst/developer wage in italy..
Top i can afford, on top of house mortgage in my native town and house rent (where i currently reside for work) is a 35k one..
70k CAR is currently out of my league

 

[Xander756]

First off, I wouldn't know anything about "major salary aggregation sites" because I had no idea those even existed, but without knowing where they got their information I wouldn't trust them at all. Unless they're doing rigorous statistical sampling of controlled populations it's probably not safe either.

Second, social media responses aren't proof of anything except that someone, somewhere with an account clicked a button that pushed up a counter. To say that it means anything else is disingenuous at best, and outright misleading.

Do you know how viral marketing works? This is actually kind of interesting, so pay attention. The idea is to turn your customers/readers/viewers into advertisers by getting them to pass along links or information about whatever you're selling (your article). But how many people do you think actually care how much game developers make? People who play games, who are not the majority of the people plugged into social media. So most people who read your article know very little about games, but they know that when they get an article from a friend they're expected to hit that "Like" button.

tl;dr: On the internet, the only indication of quality is what people write back about what you do. What do the majority of the comments that have thought put in to them have to say?

The majority of comments from non-developers or industry professionals have been very supportive. I mentioned earlier in the thread some have even called me a hero and thanked me. While that might be a little overboard, it really goes to show gamers agree.

 

[Marty Chinn]

Was it developers? Or employees? Your going to have executives, your going to have HR, your going to have secretaries, etc. All of them are not making similar amounts in salary or bonuses.

Second, with the high turnover rate in the industry, what would you suggest they do to keep talent? Paying them less while making them work the same would make even more people leave.

Not to mention their cost associated to a specific game development can be split across multiple projects and are not soley assigned to one game's cost. So you can't even attribute average to the budget of a game.

 

[Watashiwa]

Xander, I just expanded my post, if you'd be so kind as to reply to that.

 

[massoluk]

The majority of comments from non-developers or industry professionals have been very supportive. I mentioned earlier in the thread some have even called me a hero and thanked me. While that might be a little overboard, it really goes to show gamers agree.

Sarah Palin also has been called hero by some...

 

[Marty Chinn]

Sarah Palin also have been called hero by some...

And got a lot of likes on Facebook.

His problem is he puts all his weight on anything that supports him, and then discredit anything that doesn't agree with him without taking any constructive criticism or willingness to accept he may be wrong on some things. He relies on positive feedback to believe he's right.

 

[meijiko]

The majority of comments from non-developers or industry professionals have been very supportive. I mentioned earlier in the thread some have even called me a hero and thanked me. While that might be a little overboard, it really goes to show gamers agree.

Here's a little tidbit of truth for you: a lot of people on the internet are stupid. They don't actually know what you're talking about, or care enough to do any follow-up reading on the information you gave them. They looked at your thesis, your argument that "GAMEZ ARE TOO EXPENSIVE" and they were like "FUCK YEAH FUCK THOSE DEVS," hit "Like" and went on their merry way.

The people that actually know what they're talking about read your article and are giving you (valuable) criticism for some of the logical fallacies in your arguments, and you're ignoring it because "LOL PEOPLE LIKED IT ON FACEBOOK I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU."

 

[Xander756]

Ok, since you're the math expert. Let's take your 2,000 employee situation and cut the average salary in half like you wanted in your article. Run us the breakdown on the numbers on that and what the likely median salary would be as a result.

The median salary shouldn't be affected since the cuts would come from the top end of the spectrum. Here are some numbers, simplified for easier understanding:

Salaries: $25, $40, $50, $55, $60, $100, $1,000, $2,000, $10,000
Total Paid: $13,330
Average salary: $1,481 (yet majority make nowhere near that. See how it's skewed?)\
Median Salary: $60

After Cuts

Salaries: $25, $40, $50, $55, $60, $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000
Total Paid: $6,830 (Cuts to the top result in about half total paid out)
Average Salary: $759
Median Salary: $60

 

[Marty Chinn]

Here's a little tidbit of truth for you: a lot of people on the internet are stupid. They don't actually know what you're talking about, or care enough to do any follow-up reading on the information you gave them. They looked at your thesis, your argument that "GAMEZ ARE TOO EXPENSIVE" and they were like "FUCK YEAH FUCK THOSE DEVS," hit "Like" and went on their merry way.

The people that actually know what they're talking about read your article and are giving you (valuable) criticism for some of the logical fallacies in your arguments, and you're ignoring it because "LOL PEOPLE LIKED IT ON FACEBOOK I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU."

I wish I could like this post so that he might consider it valid.

The median salary shouldn't be affected since the cuts would come from the top end of the spectrum. Here are some numbers, simplified for easier understanding:

Salaries: $25, $40, $50, $55, $60, $100, $1,000, $2,000, $10,000
Total Paid: $13,330
Average salary: $1,481 (yet majority make nowhere near that. See how it's skewed?)\
Median Salary: $60

After Cuts

Salaries: $25, $40, $50, $55, $60, $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000
Total Paid: $6,830 (Cuts to the top result in about half total paid out)
Average Salary: $759
Median Salary: $60

Stop using fake numbers. You used some real stats, you have done research, so let's use some realistic numbers. What percentage of the total salary is dedicated to the high end earners? What basis do you assume that the budgets can be cut in half?

 

[AmFreak]

There was a counter article put up that received about 1/9th the likes as mine did. It's also worth noting that my interview with HipHopGamer received a thumbs up to thumbs down ratio of 18:1 on YouTube.

Lol, at you constantly trying to spin this to "most people liked it, so it's true".
I mean really?
People on facebook liked an article that basicly said "look at those rich mofo's swimming in money and buying $70k sport cars". "And now those greedy bastards want to kill used games, to get even more sacks full of gold". You even brought out the cheap "look what a poor police officer makes" -killer argument. And on top of all that you totaly omited arguments against your thesis. Ya it's really suprising that there are people out there that gave you a like, for a populist "they are rich, you are poor"- article. Especially after a worldwide reccession and the Xbone debacle.

 

[diffusionx]

The majority of comments from non-developers or industry professionals have been very supportive. I mentioned earlier in the thread some have even called me a hero and thanked me. While that might be a little overboard, it really goes to show gamers agree.

I'm not a developer, your articles are terrible.

 

[Xander756]

Lol, at you constantly trying to spin this to "most people liked it, so it's true".
I mean really?

No. Other people said that most of the readers disagree with it so that should show me it is a problem with my writing or wrong. I simply pointed out this wasn't true and that most readers liked it. I was responding to something another poster said. Please do not take what I wrote out of context.

 

[massoluk]

The median salary shouldn't be affected since the cuts would come from the top end of the spectrum. Here are some numbers, simplified for easier understanding:

Salaries: $25, $40, $50, $55, $60, $100, $1,000, $2,000, $10,000
Total Paid: $13,330
Average salary: $1,481 (yet majority make nowhere near that. See how it's skewed?)\
Median Salary: $60

After Cuts

Salaries: $25, $40, $50, $55, $60, $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000
Total Paid: $6,830 (Cuts to the top result in about half total paid out)
Average Salary: $759
Median Salary: $60

OMFG. Go back and take some Statistics 101. That's what people have been telling you. This beyond amusing now.

 

[diffusionx]

Now THIS could be an interesting article! Celebrity game developers, good or bad? Unfortunately, neither the article that you wrote nor the title of such are about that.

I don't think it would. A lot of these guys got in on a booming industry with a big stake in it. Cliff is rich because he built great games that people loved during a time when Epic exploded. There's no shame in that. If Unreal was terrible Cliff wouldn't be rich.

Guys like Sid Meier and Molyneaux left comfy jobs to build their own studios, obviously part of that is financial. There's no shame in that, either.

People like Xander756 think the rules of our economic system should cease to exist for the gaming industry, which is obvious nonsense. It's a huge industry, lots of money is at stake, publishers invest heavily to meet gamer demands and trends. It stands to reason that the people who do that will get rewarded for it. It's how a competitive industry works.

 

[Bl4ckSunsh1n3]

No. Other people said that most of the readers disagree with it so that should show me it is a problem with my writing or wrong. I simply pointed out this wasn't true and that most readers liked it. I was responding to something another poster said. Please do not take what I wrote out of context.

Of course they liked it. You're talking about saving them money. I could put some bullshit up about how I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express and now I'm a doctor and doctor's should only make half of what they do. That way our healthcare wouldn't be so expensive.

Bam...last sentence gets it liked purely because I sided with a popular opinion. Even though the entire thing was bullshit.

You're getting praise from people who think games are too expensive. They don't care how the costs are cut. Just save me money. You've done nothing except piggy back on a popular opinion and take advantage of the naivety that comes with the Internet.

 

[Xander756]

OMFG. Go back and take some Statistics 101. That's what people have been telling you. This beyond amusing now.

Hmm can you specify what was wrong with the post I made? I don't see any errors...

I did take several statistics courses at university including statistics, accounting, business stats, and principles of macroeconomics.

 

[Marty Chinn]

Hmm can you specify what was wrong with the post I made? I don't see any errors...

I did take several statistics courses at university including statistics, accounting, business stats, and principles of macroeconomics.

Good, you have the background. Run me some realistic numbers on a 2,000 person studio that shows how you get the average salary in half, and what the new median income would be. Break it down into the different categories of positions of what a 2,000 person studio makes up. You've done the research already for the article and now you say you have the background to do so. Tell us. No fake $10 numbers; give us realistic numbers.

I'll even help you out a bit. Half of 196 million is 98 million. Tell me how the 98 million budget breaks down and how you save 98 million to begin with.

 

[Deleted member 126221]

I did take several statistics courses at university including statistics, accounting, business stats, and principles of macroeconomics.

Congratulations! I hope this is gonna help you land a job in another field, because journalism clearly isn't for you.

 

[androvsky]

Hmm can you specify what was wrong with the post I made? I don't see any errors...

I did take several statistics courses at university including statistics, accounting, business stats, and principles of macroeconomics.

So your theoretical company has two high-paid execs, with pay that assumes a large, successful company, three programmers(?), two artists, and two QA people?

 

[MJLord]

The majority of comments from non-developers or industry professionals have been very supportive. I mentioned earlier in the thread some have even called me a hero and thanked me. While that might be a little overboard, it really goes to show gamers agree.

You are so far up your own ass.

 

[Xander756]

Congratulations! I hope this is gonna help you land a job in another field, because journalism clearly isn't for you.

As I mentioned during the interview, I have been offered several new jobs already (writing jobs, I mean). The job I chose has double the pay rate I was making at Examiner and I have a few contributor gigs lined up on top of that.

 

[AndyD]

Actually the number of employees was also a cited, verifiable reference. This was not a figure that was made up by me.

And what do you mean I can't attribute the salary average to every employee? That's kind of what an average is...

Lets say $100 were paid out among 10 employees. What's the average that was paid out per employee? $10. Does this tell you anything about the distribution of that $100? Not really. It doesn't mean each and every single one made $10. One person might have made $80 and the other 9 combined for the other $20.

This article was about the person making that $80.

It's simple. All developers are employees, not all employees are developers. So your average of $80k per developer is not directly attributable to a 2000 employee studio.

Simpler terms: a studio employs everywhere from secretaries, to artists, to developers to managers and so forth. All different job descriptions, all employees, not all developers.

So in order to write a better article and make a better investigation and write better claims, you would have to look at the average number of developers at a studio, not average number of employees. And you can't say the biggest studio is X, because if you average salaries across the industry, then you have to average studio sizes as well.

 

[massoluk]

Hmm can you specify what was wrong with the post I made? I don't see any errors...

I did take several statistics courses at university including statistics, accounting, business stats, and principles of macroeconomics.

Median over average as measure of quality of life. Your reply shows exactly that, why argue over pointless things and generalizing all developers instead of pointing the obvious celebrity developers and other overhead?
/smh, why are there even arguments?

 

[Deleted member 126221]

As I mentioned during the interview, I have been offered several new jobs already (writing jobs, I mean). The job I chose has double the pay rate I was making at Examiner and I have a few contributor gigs lined up on top of that.

So YOU'RE the reason why websites are so full of ads, with your exorbitant salary?!

(Just playing with you )

 

[Marty Chinn]

I think calling him out on his research and credentials scared him off. =(

 

[APF]

Not every employee in a game development studio is a game developer. Drawing a conclusion re: game budgets using average salaries for developers and extrapolating to a 2,000 employee studio which necessarily includes non-developers (qa, hr, operations, artists, marketing / pr, etc) is extremely absurd.

 

[Snowden's Secret]

If the market can't support $80K salaries with $60 game sales (it would seem that it cannot) then obviously either developers are overpaid or game prices are too low.

Now, the solution is a bit trickier. If you don't want to raise game prices, you have to lower your budget. That means cutting back on staff, in one of two ways. 1) Layoffs (reduce total number of staff) and those that stick around make the same amount, or 2) Pay cuts (everyone takes a pay cut but stays employed).

ALSO: What the hell is going on in this thread?

 

[hatchx]

Terrible article aside, I really do feel there are more skills involved in being a game designer than a police officer or teacher. Computer programming is not easy, and they are often using some of the most bleeding edge tech available.

I have a lot of respect for the work game developers do and I think it's totally fair they make more than teachers and cops.

 

[meijiko]

If the market can't support $80K salaries with $60 game sales (it would seem that it cannot) then obviously either developers are overpaid or game prices are too low.

This is a laughably simplified view. You do know that there are other costs to game development besides the salaries of game devs, right?

 

[Akey]

If the market can't support $80K salaries with $60 game sales (it would seem that it cannot) then obviously either developers are overpaid or game prices are too low.

Developers are a very small fraction that makes up $60 games. Its not that simple.

 

[cpp_is_king]

Developers are a very small fraction that makes up $60 games. Its not that simple.

And besides, we can immediately rule out the developers being overpaid as demonstrably false, because they are across the board paid less than equivalent positions in virtually all other non-games industries. So if you want to pay game developers less, then you can expect MUCH shittier games, because you will have a mass of exodus of the talent pool. It's that simple, and the only people who don't understand this (such as the author) are either straight up delusional, or have simply dug the hole so deep through their own arrogance they they refuse to admit they may have been wrong.

 

[hodgy100]

heaven forbid being paid a lot for a highly technical job such as programming!

Imagine if loads of larger devs just start producing their own titles and self publishing them. cutting out the publisher.

 

[diffusionx]

If the market can't support $80K salaries with $60 game sales (it would seem that it cannot) then obviously either developers are overpaid or game prices are too low.

Considering lots of $60 games come out and plenty of people I buy them, I actually think the market can support it just fine.

But even if it did not, then no, it's not obvious those are the two problems.